1.7.10-Sarah1281
Brick!Club 1.7.10 The System of Denials The picture of the French legal system we have been presented with is so dismal I’m actually almost surprised that they even bother asking him if he has anything to say which might add to his defense. Since the whole case is pretty much people telling some random guy that he’s actually a convict, he really doesn’t. I mean, he tries to offer proof and give references but the guy he worked for isn’t available and probably wouldn’t remember him anyway. His little word vomit reminds me of Valjean when he first met the bishop which I’m sure doesn’t help him at all. The important part of the first section of his speech is reiterating that he was a wheelright and who he worked for. The rest might be useful in proving that he knew something about wheelrighting but I think it’s just him rambling and anyway he could have been a wheelright in one of the eight years Valjean has been missing. Apparently the people in charge got annoyed that they “wasted time” trying to stave off frostbite and freezing to death though I would think that if they did not and just let the cold overcome then that would waste even more time and perhaps produce a few time-wasting bodies. And it’s another one of those poor people occupations that makes you old before your time. Still, thirty sous a day doesn’t sound that bad, at least in the countryside. Things are more expensive in Paris. And he’s made fun of for being old which is always lovely. He lived with his daughter who can’t have been that old since he himself is only in his mid-fifties and who is now dead. Since we go straight from her husband beat her to her being dead I’m speculating he ended up killing her. Her life was hard and she maybe lived apart from the husband for it to just be her and her father and she was so tired she went to bed at seven at night except once no Mardi Gras where she went to bed at eight. And there are so many people in Paris that it’s easy to get swallowed up and people wouldn’t know him. And they’re laughing at him so he laughs, too, because he doesn’t understand and that would just make him laugh harder. And he’s so much like how Valjean was when he arrived in Digne and anyone but the bishop would have laughed at him and he must know that. How can he sit there and listen to this? But the moment he stops he must take Champmathieu’s place and face their jeers and scorn. They at least tried to summon the guy he worked for but he’s gone down in the world and disappeared. Champmathieu has probably answered a million times that he didn’t steal the apples (even if he did) and that he’s not Valjean so I don’t blame him for not being interested enough in answering the questions yet again since they’re just not going to believe him. But what is even the point in asking him if the district attorney is going to provide all the answers? Champmathieu gives a heartbreaking renunciation of the charges, even more so as it took him a moment to figure out how to call these men wicked for persecuting him. He is one of those who does not eat every day. He doesn’t understand how any of this happened. Yeah, there is no way that Valjean can just sit back and do nothing. "Confused but exceedingly clever denials"? Is there nothing he can say that would satisfy them? If he says yes that is proof that he is Valjean and if he says no that is even more proof! Why they even bother having trials… Javert, of course, just left immediately after he testified since he has better ways to waste his time and was given special permission. It seems kind of unnecessary to recall the convicts and have them just testify to the same thing. What is even the point? Poor Valjean was only let go of because they had no other choice and if they had their way he never would have been let go of. I can’t believe they are literally quoting what he said. And five or six escape attempts? Apparently Javert is not as up on the case as he thought. Or else he is being misquoted. I can’t believe Javert would make such a mistake, actually, since each escape gets three more years. How does he figure that (even if we don’t take into account that one of the escapes netted five years) five or six escapes equals nineteen extra years? Did he think the original sentence was three years? Why is the audience in suspense when Brevet already testified and is just called on to repeat himself? Brevet is very religious but not as religious as Valjean since I don’t think that’s possible. He is a suck-up and tries to make himself useful and that is working out for him since he is no longer in prison. I sort of have to wonder if there are only three convict witnesses because everyone else who knew Valjean in prison didn’t think he was Champmathieu and that was inconvenient for the case. Kind of unnecessarily cruel to remind him that he cannot swear an oath. At least he’s admitting, so long as it is convenient for the case, that convicts who have no honor they can swear by still have a little bit of honor and will be trusted to tell the truth if that truth aligns with the goals of the prosecution. I wonder how Valjean was sly in the galleys. People have been accusing Champmathieu of slyness and, well, he doesn’t possess it. But of course Brevet won’t take it back; it’s not in his interest. He was the first to recognize Valjean and probably rewarded for it. What will happen if he denies it? Prisons have such weird nicknames. “I deny God” indeed. Is he really the only one in the galleys to have done that? Brevet lowered his eyes in shame since he couldn’t take an oath but Chenildieu met everyone’s eyes. He’s not a very nice person, of course, and mocks Champmathieu for his predicament. I think he either really believes this or is just being spiteful since it doesn’t seem like he would just tell people what they want to hear. Cochepaille is an idiot and, in my translation, says Valjean was called “Jean-the-screw” and it might just be a mistranslation but earlier in this same translation they called him “Jean-the-Jack-screw” so I interpret this as Cochepaille not even getting the nickname right. Champmathieu is rather sarcastically applauding their power of recognition and he doesn’t even know where he came from so he says they might be right about him except for the whole being an ex-convict thing. It would have been something if the prosecution had managed to track down at least one member of Valjean’s family. And the trial is just about over and it’s obvious what will happen so Valjean cannot hesitate any longer. It’s killing him to do so but he draws attention to himself and is going to ruin his own life to save this man.